Retail Marketing Companies

At ExactTarget, we’re passionate about our clients—they’re some of the best brands we know, and we’re often inspired by their dedication to the work they do. And Von Maur is an excellent example! From the company’s start in the late 1800s until now, Von Maur has always put their customers first.

If you’ve visited one of the retail chain’s stores, you know what I mean—impeccable service, inviting décor, musical ambiance, and top-notch products. And while the company’s perfected their signature “above and beyond” service in stores, Von Maur wants customers to experience the same great service...

• Nearly 81% of B2C marketers send welcome emails to their new subscribers
• Nearly 87% of retail companies send welcome emails to new subscribers
• By comparison, only 70% of non-retail companies sent welcome emails

Welcome Email Series

• A quarter of B2C marketers send a...

In my last post, "Are you Leaving Money on the Table by Manually Merchandising Your Site?", I explained how retailers can take a staggered approach to migrate from manually merchandising their ecommerce site to using automated recommendations.

Also in this last post, I mentioned the importance of not relying on “free” ecommerce platform add-ons. Today we’ll take this idea a step further and focus on how sophisticated product recommendations engines incorporate real-time customer insights with merchant rules to create a truly personalized experience for your customers. 

#5 Way Retail Marketers...

Nostalgia is fun. One need only look at BuzzFeed’s Rewind or Facebook groups celebrating the tenets of growing up in the ‘80s to notice the popular Internet trend of commemorating childhood favorites. It’s a rush of fond memories and “walking-uphill-both-ways” pride when we recall the objects and attitudes we prized in years gone by.

One piece of nostalgia that anyone with Internet in the ‘90s can remember is the hilarity and virality of those terrible ‘90s chain emails. These emails made their unwarranted way to the inboxes of early Internet users of all ages, and they defined the...

In my last post, "Are you Leaving Money on the Table by Sending Non-Targeted or Blast Emails?", I explained that sending the same offer to your entire database could actually be hurting your sales efforts and causing you to leave money on the table.

In this post, we will shift gears to focus on your merchandising strategy. By utilizing a "crawl, walk, run" strategy that leverages automation, you can actually increase AOV, boost your conversion rate, and provide your shoppers with an overall better shopping experience.

#4 Way Retail Marketers are Leaving Money On the Table: Manually Merchandising...

As I write this, 93% of UK online consumers are email subscribers and 40% of these subscribers are opening, reading and responding to email on their mobile phones or tablets. If you think these statistics suggest UK consumers prefer email above all channels for receiving offers and information from brands, you are absolutely correct!

A new report from eMarketer confirms why more marketing budget is flowing to permission-based email and why email has become “The Linchpin” of integrated digital marketing strategies.

Among the key findings in the report are these:

• Econsultancy and Adestra’s Email...

In my last post, "Are You Narrowing Your Shopping Experience to a Single Channel?", I explained how interacting with shoppers in the same way regardless of channel could produce a bad user experience, and that retailer may be missing out on an opportunity to personalize the user experience for the “next best offer” for a particular channel.

In this post, we'll look at how non-targeted or blast emails could be causing increased opt-outs, more un-engaged subscribers, and a poor user experience.

#3 Way Retail Marketers are Leaving Money On the Table: Sending Non-Targeted or Blast Emails

Sending the...

Let’s face it: gaining and retaining customers can often feel like a delicate negotiation process. What is the right mix between what you’ll give in the way of offers and discounts to what your customers gain through their interactions with you?

However, retailers will have more than just price in their bargaining arsenals. In this post, we explore the benefits of using an abandoned cart program to recapture lost revenue.

#1 Way Retail Marketers are Leaving Money On the Table: Not Having an Abandoned Cart Strategy

Our Retail Touchpoints Exposed data found that only 22 percent of retailers on the...

What happens after your customer engages with your mobile program? Your welcome strategy for any new mobile customer should include a combination of channels—email, mobile, and social—to support consumers’ cross-channel behaviors.

Don’t think of “welcome” as a single message. Whether your welcome strategy covers the first 10 days or two months, as with any relationship, it takes some time to get to know each other.

Here’s a sample step-by-step welcome campaign. We’ll use a retail company’s mobile app as an example, but you’ll see how these basic ideas can apply to almost any industry.

Day 1:...

You already know that email marketing is a powerful conversion tool and perhaps the most critical source of traffic for online purchases. But did you know that it takes up to five or more customer interactions before a purchase takes place? Exhausting! In fact, some studies show that only .25% of NEW site visitors will convert to a customer. That’s a lot of work for little return.

So, take a breath and nurture those new visitors with series of meaningful and personal interactions before asking for the sale. There are many ways to do this within the ExactTarget platform--and SocialPages and...

Leverage the data you gathered this holiday season to build long-terms relationships with your shoppers!

Any lasting customer relationship begins with an initial interaction, and for many shoppers, the holidays were like a first date on your site.

Now, the “getting to know you” process begins with these thousands of new customers. With each click, these shoppers are giving you access to their thoughts and buying habits. Each product viewed, description clicked, shopping cart filled, and item purchased gives you insight into each unique shopper’s wants, needs, preferences, and lifestyles.

And just...

The margin for error in Marketing has become razor thin. Here are five "MegaTrends" that underscore why marketing professionals need to be at the top of their game in 2013.    

MegaTrend #1: Customers are More Informed, More Influential, and Less Patient

Today’s customers are better connected, more informed, and more technically savvy than even 3-5 years ago. They have considerably more access to information to make smarter purchase decisions. They are much less patient with brands that do not deliver the information and offers they want. And they are much more vocal in expressing satisfaction –...

At Connections this year we recognized over 30 companies as finalists for our Power of One Awards. The marketing team from Blinds.com, a leading retailer in the window blinds and shade business, was recognized as a finalist for their "Entice and Engage" campaign that generated 175% growth to their email list. Featured below is a summary of how Blinds.com went about achieving these phenomenal business results.

THE BLINDS.COM STORY

The Blinds.com team wanted to grow their email list with engaged prospects that could be reached across a number of platforms—not just email. The team knew that...

In this #InspiredMarketing blog series, we have shared predictions on the future of marketing from 25 industry thought leaders. These predictions are also compiled in our new whitepaper, Inspired Marketing Predictions for 2013. In our final post of the series, Christopher Krohn of Restaurant.com shares his thoughts.

2013 Means “Game On” for Gamification

Marketing fads and gimmicks come and go— from sock puppet ads to Second Life virtual stores. Every now and then, however, true innovations emerge that revolutionize how marketers engage with customers. From where I sit, 2013 will be the year in...

In this #InspiredMarketing blog series, we are sharing predictions on the future of marketing from 25 industry thought leaders. These predictions have been compiled in our new whitepaper, Inspired Marketing Predictions for 2013. In today’s post, David Berkowitz from 360i shares his thoughts.

3D Printing (The “D” Stands for Disruptive)

In 2012, 3D printing started to migrate from the lexicon of techie tinkerers to the business trades. By the end of 2013, marketers will need to engage in serious scenario planning to assess how 3D printing may impact their businesses.

Two companies that best...

ExactTarget is fortunate to serve some of the best brands in the world, and many of them understand how important it is to mine for customer preferences or brand advocates, improving the overall performance of their marketing campaigns. There are plenty of tools to help you do this, but the reality is, most brands are ignoring data that’s right underneath their noses!  I love this tweet from Olivier Blanchard @thebrandbuilder

"Only 59% of B2C companies use social media for market research. ‪http://bit.ly/UXXQP8  (No wonder SM isn't working for 41% of B2C companies.)"

ExactTarget partners with Vis...

In this #InspiredMarketing blog series, we are sharing predictions on the future of marketing from 25 industry thought leaders. These predictions have been compiled in our new whitepaper, Inspired Marketing Predictions for 2013. In today’s post, Phil Szomszor of Firefly Communications shares his thoughts.

B2B Social Media Comes of Age

A recent eConsultancy survey found that 67% of marketing decision makers agreed that social media is integral to their marketing mix (and only 11% disagreed). But when I speak to B2B marketing and PR leaders, the received opinion is that social media is a “consumer...

Over the next several weeks, we will be sharing predictions on the future of marketing from 25 industry thought leaders. These predictions have been compiled in our new whitepaper, Inspired Marketing Predictions for 2013. Today, Jeff Eden of DEG Digital shares his thoughts.

The Year of “Omnichannel”

Most organizations are collecting and using data to drive sales and help decisions. However, few are truly taking advantage of the opportunities in front of them to leverage that data for successful, meaningful, sustainable engagement— usually erring by being too focused on tactics without cohesive...

A few weeks ago, TechCrunch published an article about Amazon rolling out “Amazon Pages” for brands. I’ve been following along ever since, trying to figure out how these can be put to use.

Amazon Pages will be home base for brands, authors, artists, merchants, and local businesses on Amazon, where they can customize the look and feel of their pages, display hand-picked products, make posts both to Amazon and Facebook, present other engaging widgets, and view analytics to measure effectiveness. You can learn more and download the PDF guide from Amazon Marketing Services here.

All in all, it seems...